Dublin firm claims against Iceland bank

A DUBLIN-BASED company called Burlington Loan Management and Royal Bank of Scotland have lodged claims relating to the collapse of Icelandic bank Glitnir last year.

Burlington has lodged a claim of about 150 billion Iceland crowns while RBS has submitted claims of 100 billion crowns against the bank, a source familiar with the proceedings told Reuters.

Burlington Loan Management was incorporated in Ireland in April and has a registered address at Hanover Building, Windmill Lane, Dublin. Documents filed with the Companies Registration Office indicate that the company is controlled by three charitable trusts – Badb Charitable Trust Ltd, Eurydice Charitable Trust Ltd and Medb Charitable Trust Ltd.

These trusts have common directors, all of whom hold senior positions with the leading Irish law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice (MOPS). These are William Prentice, Chris Quinn, Turlough Galvin, Tara Doyle, James Scanlon, Anthony Walsh and Liam Flynn.

Bank of New York (Ireland) Ltd acts as company sectary to Burlington Loan Management.

A spokesman for MOPS last night said it had no comment to make on Burlginton and its claim.

Iceland’s top commercial banks were brought down by the global financial crisis last October, plunging the Icelandic economy into deep recession and forcing the nation to seek billions of dollars in aid from the International Monetary Fund. Iceland’s three biggest banks – Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing – folded within a week, owing more than $60 billion to foreign lenders.

The Icelandic crown is not fully tradable so the current value of the claims in euro or dollars is unclear. The Icelandic crown was quoted internationally at 285 to the euro on Monday. The Icelandic central bank’s rate is 183 crowns to the euro.

A person familiar with the matter said RBS’s direct loan exposure was less than £50 million and the hit was likely to have been included in 2008 results.

Claims lodged by any of the banks may reflect derivatives or other exposures that have been hedged, and likely losses from any loan is likely to be far lower. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)